Fastening means for tool handles



Sept. 1, 1936. M. A. NYBERG I FASTENING MEANS FOR TOOL HANDLES Filed Nov. 18, 1955 Patented Sept. 1, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FASTENING MEANS FOR TOOL HANDLES Morgan A. Nyberg, Milwaukee, Wis. Application November 13, 1935, Serial No. 50,349 4 Claims. (01. 306-33) This invention relates to tools, especially to wooden handled tools and refers particularly to holders for securing the handles in the tool heads.

-5. In the past, holders for Wooden handled tools have been so constructed and. applied that parts of them protruded out beyond the. top of the tool head. In .claw hammers, this was veryvobjectionable, for if a nail was to be withdrawn from a smoothly finished surface, the protruding portion of the holding device would scratch and leave deep scars in the surface of the same.

The present invention thus has as one of its objects to provide a locking or holding device 1 5 for securing handles in tool heads, which is so constructed that no portion thereof protrudes from the top of the tool head.

Another object of this invention is to provide a looking or holding device that. aifords a simple means of securement between thehead of the tool and a wooden handle, and which also becomes eifective automatically upon assembling of the parts.

A further object of this invention is to provide a holder for securing a wooden handle in the socket of a tool head which has parts thereof adapted to automatically snap into notches in the handle and the tool head as the parts are assembled.

With the above and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, this invention resides in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinafter described and more particularly defined by the appended claims, it being understood that such changes in the precise embodiment of the herein disclosed invention may be made as come within the scope of the claims.

The accompanying drawing illustrates two 4'0 Gomplete examples of the physical embodiment of the invention constructed according to. the best modes so far devised for the practical application of the principles thereof, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side view of a hammer with parts 45 broken away and in section to illustrate one application of this invention;

Figure 2 is a view in section taken on the plane of the line 2-2 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the holding 5o device per se;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary section view showing a simple manner of notching the socket wall of the tool head;

Figure 5 is a view in side elevation of an axe to 55 show a modified embodiment of the invention;

Figure 6 is a view in section taken on the plane of the line 6-6 in Figure 5.

Referring now particularly to the accompanying drawing, in which like numerals indicate like Darts, the numeral 5 represents a tool, which in 5 the present instance, is illustrated as a conventional claw hammer having a handle receiving socket 6 in its medial portion, and a wooden handle 1 having one end portion 8 inserted into the socket. 10

In the past, various means have been provided for securing the handle in the socket, the most common being a wedge driven into the handle end disposed within the socket so as to spread the same into intimate contact with the out- 15 wardly flared diverging walls of the socket.

This manner of securing the handle in the socket is objectionable due as in use the wedge soon becomes loose and permits detachment of the tool head from the handle. 0

To overcome this objection, holding devices were designed which effected some sort of interlocking connection between the tool and the handle, but all past expedients of this type have been complicated and inadequate. In many instances the tool head had to be of special construction with parallel walls in its socket. Also, holding devices heretofore proposed often had parts thereof protruding from the top of the tool head which, as noted hereinbefore is de- 0 cidedly objectionable.

The holding device 9 of this invention, on the other hand, is extremely simple and effective and may be used either with or without the wedge. However when it is used with the wedge 5 it is applicable to any type of tool head and does not require the socket walls to be parallel. As best illustrated in Figure 3, this holding device consists of a flat strip of metal, preferably spring steel, of a length substantially shorter 40 than that of the socket 6. One end of the strip is bent laterally to form a flange l0 adapted to engage the inner end of the tool socket as illustrated in Figure 1. The opposite end of the holding device is bent slightly away from the socket wall as at H, and the edge thereof engages a shoulder l2 formed in the handle by cutting a. notch or recess l3 in its side when the parts are assembled.

At its medial portion, and near the flanged 5 end In, the holding device has a spring tongue I4 struck therefrom. The spring tongue projects in a direction opposite to that of the bent end H and engages a shoulder in the socket wall formed by drilling or grinding a notch I 5 into endwise movement with respect to the tool unit with their spring ends ll .icurvi'ng'inwardly' a substantial distance into the hollow of thesocket.

With the holding devices so located, the handle, after being filed or cut to; fit ,thesocket: and having the recesses l3 formed therein, is ,in,. serted and driven into the socket in the con ventional manner. As the handle is ;driven,int the socket, the spring.; end s H of the holding devices are defiectedandsnap intooperative positions engaging the-shoulders l2 upon alignment of the shoulders therewith. z ,1

While in the embodiment shown, the handle endfportion has but one set of shoulders l2, it. willbe readily apparent that a number of such shoulders may be providedat, spaced intervals along the length of the handle portion so that the handle need not bedriven into the socket to justoneposition. g p y :As tool handles generally; have a tapered socket, a wedge ll has been provided toforce I the walls .of the; outer endof the handle into intimatecontact with the socket walls.

While the holding device of this invention is particularly applicable to claw hammersin that no parts thereof protrude from the-top of the hammer head, it is not restricted to .this-one use, and in Figures 5 and 6 a' slightly modified embodiment of the invention is illustrated ap plied to a conventionalaxe;

,In this embodiment of. the inventionthe holder l8 has a body portion l9 curved in cross section to fit a correspondinglycurved wall of a socket in a tool such as an axe. In-other respects the holder l8 and its manner of use is the same ashas been described. 7 1

, From the foregoing description taken, in 'connection with the accompanying drawing it will be readily apparent to, those skilled in the-art that this invention aifordsa simple and effective,

means for securing tool heads to wooden handles,

which leaves the top surface of the tool heads free from any projections that mightrnar or scratch surfaces: towhich they maybe applied; and that application of the-same is easily effected. What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a tool of the character described, a head having a socket providedwith a notch in one wall thereof, a handle having an end portion disposed in the socket, a shoulder on said handle end portion, a holding device between said wall of the socket and the adjacent surface of the handle end portion and having a part engaging said shoulder on the handle, a flange on the holding device engaging the inner end of the head to prevent outward movement of the holding device with respect to the tool head, and a spring tongue projecting from the holding device into the notch in said Wall of the socket to prevent movement of the holding device with respect to the tool head in the opposite direction.

2. In a tool of the character described, a head having a socket therethrough with one end of the socket opening to the outer face of the head and its othefend opening to the inner face of the head, one wall of the socket having a shoulder fa'cin'gthe'outer face of the head, a handle ahaving'an .end portion disposed in the socket withthe .end thereof flush with the outer face of" the head so as not to protrude therefrom, a shoulder on. said end. portion of :the handle facing ,the;.innerface of the tool head, a holding device between saidwall of the socket and the adjacent surface of the handle end portion with at-part thereof engaging the shoulder on the handle end portion and another part-engaging the shoulder in said wall of the socket, and a flange carried by the holding device and engaging-the inner face of. the tool, said flange coacting with the. .engagement between the holding device and said shoulders to. secure the handle againstxremoval. from the tool head without the necessity. for protrusions from the outer face of the tool head.

3. A holding device for securing handles to tool heads comprising a strip of metal having a yieldable end portion .bent away from the longitudinalaxis of the strip to engage down into a recess in the handle to hold the strip against longitudinal movement in one direction with respectto the handle, a spring tongue struck from the'strip and projecting in the opposite direction for engagement with a shoulder on the tool head to-hold the strip against longitudinal movement in the same direction with respect to the tool head, and'a flange on' the end of the strip opposite said bent end: and engageable with the inner face of the tool "head to hold the strip against longitudinal movement in the opposite direction with respect to the tool head.

. 4. A holding device of the character described comprising a strip of metal curved in transverse cross section :and having one end portion bent inwardly to provide an abrupt sharply defined edge portionengageable with a shoulder in the handle'of'a tool, a spring tongue projecting outwardly'from the outercurved surface of the strip for eng-agement with a shoulder in the head of a tool, and a flange on the opposite end of the strip extending-perpendicularly from the outer curved 60 surface of the strip to overlie and engage one face of a tool head.

1 MORGAN A. NYBERG. 

